Escape
by fieryminds
Summary: Bella moves to Forks in order to escape a horrifying stepfather. She meets the Cullens soon after she moves there. Will they see through her barriers and help her? Canon pairings. All human.


**A/N: Soo.. this is something that I wrote on a whim and I wasn't exactly sure about whether I wanted to post it.** **Well, I have posted it now (obviously).**

 **So, give it a read and let me know what you think. I am not exactly sure about whether I should continue either. I'll leave it upto you guys to decide.**

 **Chapter 1**

"Are you sure about this, Bella?" my mother asked me.

"Yes, Mom. I was going to move after a year anyway," I replied, forcing a weak smile.

"Call me if you need anything," she said as she hugged me.

I hugged back, savouring the unusual act of affection before I had to board my plane.

As soon as my flight took off, I plugged in my headphones, closing my eyes and turning off the rest of the world.

At eighteen, during my senior year at high school, I had decided to move in with my father who lived in Forks, one of the rainiest little towns to ever grace the Earth with its presence. It would be quite different from sunny Phoenix.

I had never liked Forks. It was too gloomy and depressing for me, even if I enjoyed the quietness and solitude a small town had to offer. But this was a move that I had to make. This was a move I had been _forced_ to make.

I shuddered slightly, remembering the situation from which I had run away.

I had lived with my mother ever since she left Forks and Charlie, my father, behind. I had been hardly six years old at that time, far too young too grasp why I could see my father for only three months a year.

My mother and I had a... complicated relationship. She had never been out of the way cruel to me. She was more or less indifferent to me. I learnt at a young age to cater to my needs by myself.

Even then, I didn't mind living with Renée. I was used to it. I was used to her indifference. I was used to her sudden whims. I was used to being responsible for myself. But then she met _him.._

 _Phil Dywer._

I had never been the type of person to hold a grudge against somebody but then I met _him._

He seemed quite charming at first glance. Renée was absolutely besotted with him from the very beginning.

I was a little annoyed at first. She wouldn't be around for even that miniscule amount of time that she used to be, leaving a barely fifteen year old to do everything from making sure the bills were paid and whatnot. I hadn't even been aware that I was responsible for maintaining everything until one rare night when she was home and going through the mail, and she found a notice from the electricity department giving a warning that they would cut off their services if the bills were not paid by that week.

She had simply fixated a hard glare in my direction and said _, "why didn't you make sure it was paid?"_

I had been at a loss of words but I slowly realised that I would have to take care of everything.

But now, when I look back, I think that those days were much better than what the future brought.

Phil moved in with us within a year and they tied the knot within a couple of months.

Outwardly, Phil seemed like a decent guy and despite my initial annoyance at my mother's endless absences, I had talked myself into being happy for her.

I had always felt a little uncomfortable around him but I had brushed it off as paranoia. Renée seemed to love him. What could possibly be off about him?

It was only after their honeymoon that I started to realise that what I had brushed off as paranoia was indeed a horrifying reality.

It started off slow. Seemingly innocent touches here and there. But it started getting more and more uncomfortable. I started noticing the way he would stare at me, or rather certain _parts_ of me.

I started avoiding him. I tried to believe that I was reading too much into it.

Then that night happened..

Renée had gone on a shopping spree with her girlfriends on a Sunday, leaving me alone at home with Phil.

Being on a mission to avoid him as much as possible, I had spent most of the day at the library. But I couldn't possibly stay there forever and had to go home sometime.

 _"You're finally home," a voice whispered behind me as I locked the door after entering home._

 _I turned around to see Phil, looking at me up and down in a rather violating way._

 _"Yeah.. I.. er.. I should go to my room," I said, trying to walk past him._

 _He caught a hold of my arm before I could get away and suddenly slammed me into a wall._

 _"You shouldn't try hiding from me, Bella. You should know better than that," he said._

 _He was close. Too close. I could feel his breath on my face._

 _"I wasn't hiding.." I started when he gripped my hips roughly with his hands._

 _"Phil! What are you doing? Get your hands off me!" I screeched at him._

 _"Shut up, bitch. I know you are enjoying this," he said as his hands moved under my shirt._

 _I lifted my leg up to kick him in the crotch when we both heard the sound of a car coming up the driveway._

 _Phil was off me in a second._ _I barely glanced at him before running off to my room as fast as my feet would take me._

That had been the first of many nightmarish encounters. I had locked myself up in my room and cried for hours. Sleep didn't visit me that night.

I had wondered about what I should do. I knew I had to tell Renée no matter how heart breaking it would be for her. I decided to tell her the first thing the next morning. But I couldn't catch a hold of her for the next couple of days. Even when I did, Phil would be there, trying to act all paternal with me.

I eventually told her when something similar happened again. I didn't even care that Phil was there listening.

I had expected her to be horrified. I had expected her to be worried about me. I had expected her to scream at Phil right then.

What I hadn't expected was the cold glare pointed at me and the words that came out of her mouth.

 _"How dare you?"_

Expectations really lead to disappointments, don't they?

She didn't even give me the benefit of doubt. She called me an _attention seeker_ while crying into Phil's shoulder and telling him how sorry she was for my behaviour.

I had never felt more betrayed in my life. The one person I was supposed to be able to rely on for support hadn't believed in me.

I withstood the trauma and torture for a whole year. I had tried to talk to Renée a couple more times but the conversation had ended in a similar fashion each time.

I eventually decided that I had had enough which brought me to my present situation. I had managed to talk Renée into letting me move in with Charlie, making up some excuse about wanting to spend a year with my father before I went off somewhere else for college.

It didn't take as long to make her agree as I had expected, Charlie being compliant with my decision had also helped.

I was brought out of my musings with a tap to my shoulder. I opened my eyes to see an air hostess with a sweet smile standing before me. We were about to land. She must have thought that I had fallen asleep.

I was glad to see Charlie waiting for me at the airport. He gave me an awkward hug before he helped me with my bags.

I wondered what things would be like living with Charlie. I hadn't seen him in over five years. I used to spend my summers in Forks but that had eventually stopped. Charlie occasionally called to check in on me, but the conversations were always short and awkward.

As we came up to the house, I spotted an old red Chevy truck parked in the driveway.

"It's.. uh.. it's for you. I figured you need to drive to school and stuff," Charlie said, scratching the back of his head.

"Aww, Dad, you shouldn't have," I said.

"I wanted to," he said, giving me a small smile.

I started gushing over the truck as soon as we parked.

I eventually made my way inside the house and to the room where I was to stay for the next year. It was a small room but it was enough for me.

I unpacked some clothes that I would need for school and my night clothes and decided to continue with unpacking the next day. I was way too tired.

I had a dinner of cold pizza and coke with Charlie as we both made weak attempts to make small talk, mostly talking about school.

I jumped into bed as soon as we were done. I was dead tired and I had school the next day.

 _New school. New people._

I groaned.

Sleep came to me easily, something that hadn't happened in a long time.

 _I was running._

 _Lush green trees surrounded me. The atmosphere was heavy with moisture._

 _I was running. From what, I didn't know._

 _The trees became a green blur as I ran faster and faster. There was an aching in my head. But I didn't stop._

 _I tripped over what seemed like the root of a tree and suddenly I was falling._

 _Time stood still._

 _I was still falling. Where did the ground go? Shouldn't I be hitting the Earthen ground? But I couldn't seem to stop falling. It just wouldn't end._

 _"Ah, Bella, Bella, did you really think you could run from me?" I voice whispered in my ear._

 _It was the same voice that had terrified me for such a long time. It was the same voice that I tried avoiding like the plague._

 _It was Phil's voice._

 _The hair at the back of my neck stood up. I was still falling. Then I was screaming.. but no sound came out my throat._

The room was dark save for the numbers on a digital clock, telling me the time.

3:17 am.

I was covered in sweat. My heart was pounding. I moved my hands to push hair out of my face and realised my face was soaked in tears.

I sat up and blinked, trying to get myself under control. I turned on the bedside lamp. My eyes moved to the red hand marks on my arms and I was crying again.

Phil had always been careful to not put any obvious marks or bruises on me. But this had been his _parting gift_ or so he told me.

As I pulled the comforter tightly around me and curled into a ball, I asked myself, _had I truly escaped?_

 **A/N: Soo.. What do you think?**

 **Like I had said in the beginning, I am not too sure about whether I should continue with this fic.**

 **I'm leaving it to you guys to decide.**

 **Drop a review and let me know what you think.**


End file.
